Japan's Battleship Island

NAGASAKI, JAPAN - JUNE 05: People take photographs from a boat as it departs Hashima Island on June 5, 2019 near Nagasaki, Japan. Now a popular tourist destination, Hashima Island, commonly called Gunkanjima (Battleship Island) because of its shape, was known for its undersea coal mines which operated during Japan's industrialisation. The island reached a peak population of 5,259 in 1959 but in 1974, with coal reserves nearing depletion, the mine was closed and all of the residents departed, leaving the island abandoned for three decades. Interest re-emerged in the 2000s on account of its undisturbed historic ruins and it opened to tourists in 2009. Scenes from the 2012 James Bond film 'Skyfall' were filmed here and the island achieved UNESCO World Heritage status in 2015. Although Although primarily a symbol of Japan's rapid industrialisation, the island has also come to serve as a reminder of its history as a site of Korean and Chinese forced labour before and during World War Two. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)